President: John F. Worthy AIA
John is serving his third year on the Executive Board, previously as Vice President and Secretary. After earning his architectural license in 2002, he became an AIA member in 2004. He is the Design Director at Johnson + Muller Architects in Oxnard, specializing in commercial, industrial, and residential buildings. As a member of the project team, the firm has been honored with three AIAVC Design Awards. John earned his Bachelor of Architecture at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 1995. He was raised in South Pasadena, California and was inspired by it's beautiful neighborhoods of craftsman style homes and oak trees. John enjoys life in Ventura with his wife and two children. He attends Ventura Missionary Church and is an AYSO soccer referee and Foothill Little League coach.
Vice-President: Patrick McIlhenney AIA
Patrick is serving his second year on the Board, moving from Secretary to Vice President. He is a native Californian and Ventura County resident for 40 years. Pat worked for three architects, a contractor, an engineer, a major developer, and even for the Ventura County Public Works Agency before he decided to get serious about being an Architect. He has been licensed since 2004. Asked why he hustled this late in life, he was heard muttering: "Life is short...if not Now ...When?" Pat has his own successful practice firm..."Square One Architecture" in Ventura. He is committed to being involved and giving back to the community and his latest passion is volunteering for the deaf community. He loves his wife of 37 years and his proud of his two grown children, Erin and Erik.
Secretary: Robert Robles AIA
This is Robert's second year as an AIA member. He is a Southern California native from the architecturally-rich city of Pasadena. He also spent some time practicing in Northern California upon receipt of his Bachelor's degree in Architecture from UC Berkeley. In early 2007 he opened up his own architecture practice in Oxnard specializing in commercial and educational architecture. Robert is passionate about architecture and design of many forms. He is happy to continue making his own contributions to the built environment and to his chosen profession.
Treasurer: Marilyn Appleby AIA
Marilyn joined the board in 2007. She grew up in the mountain west, and received her BFA from the University of Utah. Shortly after, she moved to the east coast and worked in the art publishing field for a number of years before pursing her interest in architecture. Marilyn earned an M.Arch degree from the University of Maryland in 1995, with an emphasis in regionalism, and worked for a small architectural firm in Annapolis, Maryland. With two young kids to raise, she and her husband, David, decided it was time to move back to the west. In 2003 they moved to Santa Paula, and enjoy being close to both the mountains and the beach. Marilyn has worked for Anderson-Kulwiec Architects in Santa Paula since 2004. She loves working with kids, is a devoted Girl Scout leader and volunteer art teacher for the Santa Paula public schools.
AIACC Director: Howard Leach AIA
Howard has returned for an eighth term as AIACC Director after previously serving as AIAVC president and State Board Delegate in the 1960's. He is a northern California native, received his BA and MA degree from UC Berkeley and was licensed in California in 1962. He also has licenses in Utah, Hawaii and Washington. Howard is senior principal and CEO of Leach Mounce Architects who are specialists in Public Safety Architecture and have completed projects in 20 states. His firm has provided specialized programming and design services for many prominent architects including HOK and Leo A Daly. He and his wife Donna have two children, Mark and Monica, who also live in Ventura.
Architect Director: Richard McKenzie AIA
Richard joined the AIAVC Board in 2006, and has served as Vice president and President. He will serve the position of Architect Director and organize the AIAVC Golf Tournament and Scholarship award program. His past background in the AIA is extensive; he has served for 7 years on the AIA Santa Barbara Board of Directors and as Director on the California Council for Santa Barbara County for 4 years and has attended AIA Grassroots Leadership and Education Conference 6 times. His formal education is from the Boston Architectural Center and also a BA degree from Brooks Institute in Photography/Motion Picture. He has been licensed since 1992 and in private practice for 16 years in Santa Barbara and is a certified construction specification consultant and as an architect he specializes in accessibility compliance issues, waterproofing and façade restoration for commercial, institutional and educational clients. Richard has lived in Ventura for the last 6 years. He is a dad to a 17 year old daughter and a 14 year old son that is committed to surfing the Ventura coast.
Associate Director: Conny-Maria Santa Cruz
This will be Conny's third year as the Associate Director for our VC chapter. She is an organizer and promoter to the path to License for the associate membership. She received a BS in Interior-Architecture from Woodbury University in 2002 and a Masters in Business Administration form La Verne University in 2006, she is diligently pursuing Architectural licensing while practicing the profession; she is also a faculty member at College of the Canyons under the Architecture program. She truly enjoys being part of this culture (architecture) and when "time allows"...she enjoys reading and spending time with her 3 boys (including husband) dear friends and family members.